Af-s50-122604

Alêtheia Christian Fellowship        (Sermon 50, 12-26-04)

~Yeast 4~

Jan 9th Birthday Party & Testimony

Jan 16th and now also on the 9th Baptism Service

No Tuesday evening until Jan 4th

Offering – King’s Kids –

Last week we had the basic salvation message following the King’s Kids’ play. Thanks again to Carole, Jennifer, Nora, Mariah, Vicky, Jenny, and Debbie. The presentation at Greenwood Village was a little different because for some reason I took off the gloves.

You know this church is about Truth and the fact is that Christianity is in fact intolerant. We’re guilty of being politically incorrect because our master was and is politically incorrect.

Jesus was constantly irritating people, so much so they finally killed Him for it.

That’s the nature of our society today. Why are we always trying to be politically correct? It’s because we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. That’s a good thing, unless the person is just plain wrong.

Why don’t we want to hurt someone’s feelings even if they’re wrong? Because it might lower their self-esteem, so in our postmodern society fully embracing multiculturalism, we tell people they’re right even when they’re wrong. How do you rationalize that? You embrace the idea that there is no such thing as universal, absolute Truth. Either God is dead ala Nietzsche, or He is unknowable.

Jerry and I talked about Deism and Agnosticism the other night and how convenient it is for people. You say there probably is a God, hedging your bet, but at the same time you say I can’t be sure of what He may want therefore I’ll continue to do things my own way. So dead, missing in action or simply AWOL, we get to do our own thing and what’s right for me may or may not be right for you and visa versa.

The point is that if we can trust God to give us His guidance in the form of the Bible then universal, absolute Truth does exist. If we don’t completely trust the veracity of God through the Bible as we posses it today then we all may as well be agnostic or at least join the vast Christian cult of believing the parts of the Bible you like and disregarding the rest as only cultural or some other excuse.

Truth is never tolerant or politically correct. If two plus two equals four then it does not equal anything else no matter how much you want to be nice! Jesus said repeatedly that there was only one way to eternal life and it didn’t have anything to do with Buddha.

CmaHA ch-ah-mah-ts - from the word for sour it means to ferment, bread or alcohol. zu>mh dzoo-may - ferment, we get the word enzyme from it, literally  en zu>mh

Good or bad - It’s unavoidable - You have to know what the bad looks like - Learn the real to detect the false. Counterfeit money.

1- Pursue God

2- Humble yourself

3- Revere God’s Word

4- Obey what you already know!

We must remember to fine tune our yeast detectors and the first place we need to aim our detectors is at ourselves!

Now the inevitable condition of the human heart is deception.

Three things:

I delude myself,

I drag others with me,

I hate those who disagree especially if they once agreed.

1- Self-righteousness, Relative-righteousness & Mock-righteousness (Action)

2- Docetic-righteousness (Inaction)

3- Absolute or imputed righteousness (Lifestyle)

Doctrine is paramount, because it is what you base your actions on.

pornei>a, pour-neigh-ah. All words associated with porn. General term encompassing all extramarital, unlawful and unnatural sexual intercourse. By extension all lustful inclinations that direction. In view of the sermon on the mount even dwelling on the thoughts of such things are included. Specifically any relations or fantasies of a sexual nature outside of the bonds of matrimony between one man and one woman qualify. It is this that is grounds for divorce.

ajkaqarsi>a, ah-kah-thar-see-ah. Literally worthless material, waste, refuse decaying flesh. Catharsis meaning to cleanse, such as the release of emotions through art. The “a,” is the opposite, i.e. unclean. Used of ceremonial uncleanness, moral impurity and of sexual immorality, indecency or impurity. Opposite of holy living.

ajse>lgeia, ah-sail-gay-ah. Licentiousness, living without restraint and to a point that is shocking to the average person especially of a sexual nature.

eijdwlolatri>a, eigh-doe-lah-laht-ree-ah. Our word idolatry is transliterated directly from this and it means the worship of idols. Using the same Truth Jesus, taught on the mount that Idolatry is a heart thing. It is ok to wear a cross around your neck if it is only an object you enjoy, but it becomes idolatry when you think it does anything special to include pleasing God. It can’t hurt?

farmakei>a, farm-ah-kay-ah. We get all the pharmacy words from it and it is literally medicine. In the Roman world 2,000 years ago it was specifically the use of drugs to affect a magical result and is therefore best understood as witchcraft or magic arts. Brewing potions like the poison to put on Snow White’s apple. More Wicca, black witches and druids are practicing magic than ever before, but this also includes the use or rather abuse of substances in order to change thing if only for a little while.

e]cqrai, eckh-th-rye. Plural, enmity, hostility and hatred both as inward feelings and outward action. Self-centeredness produces unhappiness when we don’t get our own way. This dissatisfaction becomes bitterness and anger deep inside which will eventually be made manifest.

e]riv, eh-reese. Strife, debate and discord. A person who engages in arguing about things, whether you enjoy it or not and whether you start it or not. It is a self concern that requires you to either attack what you don’t like, rather than let it go and the same thing that requires you to defend yourself from attack rather than merely considering the source and laughing inside.

zh~lov, dzay-loss. Interestingly it is related to zu>mh, to ferment and literally means for your spirit to ferment. We get the word zeal from it and it can be used in a good sense and as here in a bad sense as too much zeal or really zeal for your own benefit which is what we call jealousy. When a great thing happens to someone else, do you wish it would have been you?

qumoi>, thoo-moi. Plural, wrath, rage, anger boiling over. The root has to do with emotions and this form means the totally selfish emotions caused by strong passions that boil over into life.

ejriqei~ai, airy-thay-eye. Plural, Related to e]riv, the attitude of the self-seeking selfish ambition generally resulting in rivalry. You are more interested in how a thing will affect you or your agenda.

dicostasi>ai, dich-ahs-tahs-ee-eye, Plural, Literally, standing hither/apart. static, stasis, ecstacy from exstasiv. it is disunity or division within a community like this church. It is STAND-OFFISHNESS!

aiJre>seiv, high-rehs-ace, Plural, We get the heresy from this and strictly speaking it means choice or option. In this sense it is obviously to choose the option that is different from the mainstream. It is a click or sect or separatist group characterized by loyalty to a certain school of thought and in Christianity it is the wrong school.

fqo>noi, ph-th-on-oi Plural, Pilate knew it was out of… that they handed Jesus over. Envy or jealousy over the success of another

me>qai, meth-eye, Plural, Drunkenness or intoxication.

kw~moi, coe-moi, Plural, Originally the festive procession in honor of the wine God Dionysus, community, commerce, communal and common, so it means community merrymaking in excess or in our verbiage today, partying.

o[moiov, homogenous things of similar kind. homo-sapiens Latin wise, homosexual

1 John says that if we say we haven’t sinned we are liars and make God out to be a liar.

then it says in chapter 3 verses 9 & 10:

This is an infinitive in Greek, it means to continue in a way by choice. In Hebrews the tenth chapter, it says to draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith. Then it goes on to say:

The same word is used in 1 Peter 5:2, about pastors serving the fellowship not for monetary gain or some other compunction, but willingly. I make a choice because that’s what I want to do.